Obama dismisses 'big circus'

Nation & World

Shrugs off lie accusation, wants focus back on health care

September 14, 2009|By Noam N. Levey, Tribune Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Sunday dismissed the uproar over Rep. Joe Wilson's heckling during the president's speech to a joint session of Congress last week, suggesting it was only a distraction even as some members of Obama's own party threatened to punish the South Carolina Republican.

"This is part of what happens. I mean, it just, it becomes a big circus instead of us focusing on health care," Obama said during an interview on the CBS news program "60 Minutes." "He apologized afterwards, which I think, I, I appreciated," Obama said.

Senior House Democrats, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., indicated last week that unless Wilson went to the House floor to apologize, they would advance a resolution admonishing Wilson for shouting "You lie" during Obama's address.

Wilson's outburst, which outraged many Democrats and embarrassed some Republicans, has helped galvanize many of the president's supporters as well as some of his fiercest opponents.

Asked about the controversy, Obama bemoaned what he called "a coarsening of our political dialogue."

"In the era of 24-hour cable news cycles ... the loudest, shrillest voices get the most attention," the president said.

Obama nonetheless expressed confidence that his health care campaign would not be derailed by the angry opposition.

"I believe that we will have enough votes to pass not just any health care bill, but a good health care bill," he said, asserting that his party would not make the same mistake it did in 1993 and 1994 when many Democratic lawmakers resisted the Clinton administration's efforts to overhaul the nation's health care system.

"In terms of the Democratic Party, they all understand we have to make this happen," Obama said. "We're not going to get a better opportunity to solve our health care issues than we have right now."

Several key Senate Democrats also expressed optimism Sunday about the chances for advancing a bill, including Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, who is working on a centrist bill that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., plans to introduce this week.

It is still unclear if that legislation will attract more than one or two Republicans, however.

On Sunday, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who often works with Democrats, said she would not support a key concept being floated as a possible compromise: a "trigger" for creating a new government insurance program if there is evidence that private insurers are not providing affordable options to consumers.

"The problem with (a) trigger is it just delays the public option," Collins said on CNN. Most Republicans worry that a new government plan would ultimately drive private insurers out of business, while many Democrats say it would provide consumers with another choice while pressuring private carriers to bring down their costs.